Patch me up
by SCIK1012
Summary: When she finished her job, Marceline looked at her friend with a smile "I'm hurting you because I love you..." Hambo stared at her with his usual stitched smile, always there for her as the only friend she had. Sequel to "You Messed Up My Evil Heart"
1. Hambo

Chapter 1: Hambo

"Marcy!" a female voice called. "Marceline!" "Come over here it's late!"

Four years had passed since _she _met _him_ and they now had a little girl, yes a little girl who likes to run and jump around. Climbing trees was her specialty since she was raised in the country, far away from the fighting and the horrors of war that the city endured. She had midnight black hair that reached her shoulders and pale white skin.

"Marceline! God, that girl is going to kill me some day!" Her mother said walking away from the front door.

"I'm here mom." The little girl said coming out of a bush. "Look I killed a bird!"

"Marcy!" Her mother said walking towards her and bending down to see her better. "Where have you been? You're all dirty again…"

"I like to play in the forest!" she said smiling. "Look at my bird! It's blue!"

"Not another one Marcy…our backyard is a bird graveyard…." The mother said taking the dead bird away from her daughter's hands. "Come…let's get you clean."

The mother took the little girl by her shoulder and walked her into their house. She sat her down on the floor and went into another room looking for a hairbrush.

When she returned she sat down behind the little girl and surrounded her with her legs. "Okay Marcy let's brush your hair!" she said passing the brush gently on her daughter's short hair.

The mother began taking out some leaves that were attached to Marcy's hair, along with some dry branches.

"Why do you like hunting birds Marceline?" she asked softly.

"Because it's fun to chase them! They can fly you know? So I have to climb very fast and jump very high to catch them!"

"Isn't there something else for you to do besides killing poor innocent birds?"

"No mom. You won't let me play with the other kids." The girl said playing with her hands. "What does innocent means mommy?" she looked at her opening her eyes widely.

Her mother smiled. "To act like you do." I'm sorry for not letting you play with the others, but we've talked about that before, hadn't we?"

The girl nodded. "Sometimes I feel lonely…" "When it's dad going to come back?"

"He'll probably come to visit us soon…" her mother thought for a moment staring the window "Hey Marcy do you want me to find you a friend?"

The girl's face was illuminated with a big smile "Yes!" she replied.

Her mother continued brushing her hair while Marceline played with the dirt that was scattered over the floor. They remained in silence enjoying each other's company when suddenly sirens of warning began to sound in the distance.

"What's with that sound mom?" Marcy asked worriedly. She knew that sound and what it meant. She would always feel scared when it invaded the peaceful silence that surrounded them "Are they going to throw bombs over the city again?"

"Come with me." Her mother said lifting her up in her arms. "Let's go to sleep."

When this happened, her mother would always try to find the way to help her little girl not to think about it.

She turned off the lights and closed the window's curtains, and then she sat on the bed holding her daughter close to her chest.

"Are people going to die?" little Marcy asked.

"Maybe but don't think about that…we are safe here…" her mother replied like if that was the most normal thing in the world. At that time, it was.

The house moved slightly when the bombs exploded in the distance and some books felled from the shelves. The little girl shuddered in fear. She was afraid of that sound. She hated that feeling.

More bombs exploded, this time the sound was closer. Marceline pressed her face against her mother's chest.

"It's okay Marcy we are going to be fine." Her mother said. "It will end soon." she began to rock her daughter softly in her arms and hummed a lullaby.

"Let's lull your fears away." Her mother said caressing Marcy's hair.

"I love you mommy…" the girl said falling asleep cuddled in her mother's embrace.

Her mother smiled. "I'll make sure you don't feel lonely anymore…tomorrow I will start working on your friend." She whispered.

She kissed her forehead and laid her on the bed. She covered Marceline with a blanket and looked at the closed window wondering what kind of future waited for her daughter.

Finally morning came bringing a greyish sky and clouds of smoke from the destroyed city with her.

Marceline's head popped out at the window and stared the landscape surrounding her house. She was bored again. She hated to be shut inside.

"Mom! Can I go outside?" she asked looking at the window in front of her.

"Not today Marcy it's dangerous!" her mother replied from inside another room.

"But I need to! I'm bored!"

Her mother sighed. "Okay! But stay close! You hear me?"

"Yay!" Marceline said jumping out the window.

"Marceline? Did you hear what I said?" … "Oh that girl!" "God please keep her safe." Her mother prayed in resignation.

Marceline ran downhill happily letting herself fall and began rolling in the grass, when she got down she stood up and began running uphill to throw herself again.

She rolled downhill once more, this time falling on her chin and swallowing a bunch of dust.

"Blah! She exclaimed cleaning her tongue with her hands and spitting on the ground.

She laid on her back and stared at the grey skies with a smile on her face, when suddenly a red bird passed flying in front of her. "Oh! Hey birdie! C'mon here!" she said standing up and running behind him.

Meanwhile on the other limit of the forest a group of mischievous kids wandered around carrying walking sticks and toy guns.

"Hey I don't think it's a good idea to come in here, we are too far from home, let's go back!" one of them said pointing nervously his rubber pistol everywhere.

"No way you coward!" a taller boy replied, he seemed to be their leader.

"Return home by yourself!" another one scolded him.

There were three of them and they were about nine or ten years old. They were exploring the forest because they heard a story about a demon that lived in those woods and if you managed to kill him you'll become a hero and gain lots of money. Of course it wasn't a true story…at least the part of the hero and the money. Anyway, let's say their leader called himself Jet, he wore a black leather jacket, the second on command was called Jim, he used a baseball cap and the smallest and shiest one's name was Tim.

"No…I was just saying…" Tim continued, "This could be dangerous."

"Of course it is!" Jim replied closing his fists solemnly.

"If we find that demon and kill it…" Jet said.

"We'll be heroes!" The taller kids laughed while Tim stared at them in concern.

Suddenly they heard a strange sound coming from the top of trees.

"G-guys!" "Did you hear that?" Tim asked hiding behind a tree.

"Yeah…it was close…" Jim whispered.

"Shhh! Quiet you two!" Jet ordered, "Let's hide and use the element of surprise!"

"Roger sir!" the boys replied obeying him.

They walked and hid under a bush waiting. The three tried to fake courage between each other but in reality they were pissing their pants out of fear.

Marceline moved swiftly jumping from branch to branch chasing the red bird. "Come here I won't hurt you! Mom told me not to kill poor innocent birds like you!" she said trying to catch it in mid-air.

The bird continued flying until it decided to perch on a distant tree. Marceline stopped herself to perch in a close branch as well. The girl found that from the place she stood she could observe him carefully. "You're mine!" she shouted jumping over him, but the bird was faster and flew away before she could change her direction, making her crash against the tree and fall onto the ground.

She landed on her face and stood up quickly holding her nose. "AUWW! This hurts! She yelled rubbing her face.

The kids who were hidden heard the whole fuss and decided to have a glimpse of what was happening. "Look it's a little girl!" one of them whispered.

"What's a little girl doing in a place like this?" Jet asked himself.

Marceline sat on the ground and started humming her mother's song, when she saw a frog jump out of a hole. "Oh!" she said bending down to see it better.

"Hmmmm…. mom didn't say anything about hunting frogs…" she whispered standing on her four extremities. "Here frog, I want to show you something!" she said imitating the frog's stance. "C'mon here!"

"She's chasing that frog!" Tim yelled.

"I can see that fool!" Jim replied.

"Be quiet! She's coming!"

But when the kids turned to observe Marceline again, she was already gone.

"W-where did she go?" Jet asked.

"She was here a second ago!" Jim added.

"What if she was some kind of ghost?" Tim said with a shaky voice.

"What are you doing here?" Marceline asked hanging upside down from a branch over the bush where they were hiding.

"Waaaa! She's here!" Jim shouted.

"Hurry let's run away!" Tim said trying to escape.

"No jerks! She's nothing but a little girl, there's no need to be afraid." Jet said staring at her.

"You are not allowed to be here…and I'm not allowed to see you, it would be better if you leave this place." Marceline said letting herself go and landing perfectly on her feet.

"Who are you to tell us what to do?" The taller boy replied.

"I'm Marceline." She answered.

"What?" Tim asked confused.

"We didn't ask for your name!" Jim shouted.

"But you said "who are you" Marceline replied blinking.

"Huh? You're not understanding what I'm saying, right?"

"What do you mean? We speak the same language." Marceline said staring at him seriously.

The other kids laughed. "She's just a dummy!"

"Hey! I'm not!" she replied annoyed.

"Yes you are!" the taller kid said crossing his arms.

"You should go home this is no place for kiddos like you!" Jim said standing on his toes to look taller.

"Yeah! There's a demon living is woods you know? If you don't go he'll eat you!" Tim said trying to appear brave.

"You are wrong he doesn't live here!" Marceline replied, "He lives in The Nightosphere and he won't eat me cause he's my daddy!" she stuck out her tongue at them.

"What did she say, Nightosphere?" Jim asked looking at his leader.

"We didn't come here to play with you!" Jet said pushing her aside.

"Play? Who's playing?" Marceline asked confused. "Oh! You're playing? May I play with you? Pleeeaaasee? She said making a big smile.

"I told you we are not here to-" Jet was about to reply when Jim began to poke his arm.

"Hey am I hallucinating or does this girl has fangs?" Jim asked. His knees were shaking.

"I-it's true…now that you mention it…she's pretty weird!" Tim replied hiding behind him. "HAhh! Maybe she's the demon!"

"Demon? She looks more like a goblin to me." Jim said staring at the girl. Marceline tilted her head not understanding what they meant.

"I don't care what she is! It's clear she's not human!" Jet shouted at them pointing the girl with his right arm.

"Yes I am, well almost, mom is a human!" Marceline replied. "Like you! We can be friends!"

"Friends?" "Who would want befriend something like you!" Jim replied.

"But why are you saying that?" Marceline asked confused.

"Let's go guys! She'll probably call her demon parents to eat us!" Tim said pulling Jim's arm.

"No! I'm not going to- Hey I told you my mother was a human!" Marceline yelled.

"Yeah right…what kind of human could have something like you!" Jim said staring at her.

"My mom does and she's a very good person!" she frowned facing him.

"I bet she's lying!" Tim said.

"I bet her mother is ugly!" Jim added.

"Quiet! That's not true! She's…she's…" Marceline stopped her talking to dry the tears in her eyes with her arm. "You don't know her! Why are you so mean?"

"Let's go Tim! You're pissing her off!"

"Right Jim! We don't have any business with non humans!"

"I'm half human!" Marceline replied shouting while the other two kids ran away.

"What ever you are, you are not human! If I were in you, I'll run away before the cloud comes to get me!" Jet said sticking out his tongue before following his friends.

"Cl-cloud?" Marceline whispered falling on her knees. "Humans…are not friendly…"

/

Marceline walked slowly through the woods on her way back home; she still had tears in her eyes and was wondering if she'll ever be able to play with someone. Little kids are supposed to do that, play with friends, but maybe humans weren't capable of understanding that.

She decided not to tell her mother what just happened and dried her tears. "Don't you dare to tell her or I promise I'll kill you and use your tongue for my slingshot, is that clear?" she talked to the frog inside her overall pocket.

"Ribitt" the frog replied with a blank expression.

"Okay you've been warned!" she stared at the sky thinking "Hmmm… let's pretend we were playing hide n' seek, I'll put you down so you can hide somewhere and I will start counting ready?" she placed the frog on the ground.

"Ribitt"

"Great here we go!" she yelled covering her eyes with her hands. "One, two, three…" she doubted "one, two, four?" she shook her head and tried again "one, two, three, four, that's it! Five, six, …eight?" Marceline bit her lip while thinking; she decided to give up "Ummm…TEN!" "Ready or not here I come!"

She started walking carefully paying attention to her surroundings. "Even if I can't see you I can track you using my ears and my nose!" she said and began to crouch placing her nose against the ground.

"I've got your stinky smell! Prepare to loose!" she shouted standing up and running carelessly not noticing a rock on her way.

She tripped with it and fell rolling at a great speed downhill, the world spun around her crazily until a tree stopped her crash.

She tried to stand up but fell down immediately due to being dizzy. She held her head trying to make the world stop, she could swear her eyes were spinning.

"Y-you see! …frog! …I told you I'll find you!" she squinted her eyes trying to see the amphibian. "Hey! Who's your friend?"

"Ribitt!"

"Huh?" she rubbed her eyes with her fists. "Oh I'm seeing double!" she chuckled.

Marceline shook her head to snap out of it. "That wasn't funny at all!" she said trying to stand up again when she felt a sting crossing her body "Auuwwch!" she groaned painfully holding her leg.

She looked at her knee it was covered with dirt and mud; on top of that she was bleeding.

"Ribitt" the frog jumped over her head.

She moaned quietly. "Don't worry it's just a scratch!" she looked at the sun setting in the horizon "It's getting late! We should hurry!" Marceline said picking the frog and began to run.

When she saw her house in the distance she began to shout. "Mom! I'm back!"

/

Marceline sat on the table staring at her mother while she cleaned the wound on her knee. She took out a bottle of alcohol and some cotton.

"Now, don't move" Marceline hated when she said that, it could only mean… "This might sting a little…" her mother said placing the cotton over the cut.

Marceline groaned loudly staring at the ceiling like if she was praying for mercy. Her mother laughed watching her "C'mon it wasn't that bad!" she said bandaging the girl's knee, then she took Marcy in her arms and kissed her forehead "I'm hurting you because I love you" she smiled placing her on the floor.

"It didn't hurt!" Marceline replied staring at her.

"Right…miss brave" her mother joked patting her head "Oh! I almost forgot!" she said snapping her fingers.

"What did you forget mommy?" the girl asked pulling her skirt while staring at her with curiosity.

"I want to introduce you to somebody!" her mother answered taking her by the hand leading her into their bedroom.

She left Marceline at the door while she picked up something from the bed. The girl stared at her trying to figure out what she was doing "Come here Marcy! He says he wants to see you!"

"Who?" the girl blinked walking into the room "who wants to see me?" she asked leaning closer to her mom.

She took out a strange teddy bear with long arms and feet, his eyes where two blue buttons and his mouth was a stitched smile. Marceline stared at the rag doll in wonder and began to clap her hands.

"He's smiling at me!" she said excited "Who is he? What's his name?"

Her mother chuckled "Why don't you ask him?" she gave the doll to her. Marceline hold him in front of her.

"What's your name mister?" she asked placing the strange-looking bear close to her ear. She remained in silence and then gasped "Mom! He says his name is Hambo!"

"Oh! Nice to meet you!" her mother replied shaking the doll's arm.

"Mom where did he came from?" Marceline asked.

"I called him, he wants to be your friend!" her mother replied.

The little girl became even happier and hugged Hambo strongly, then she jumped into her mother's arms. Both fell over the bed laughing. "Thanks mom…"

"You know I'll do anything for you!" her mother said pressing her nose against her's "Do you want me to teach you how to fix him?"

"Fix him?" Marceline asked holding Hambo in her arm.

"Yeah… what happens if he gets hurt or scratches his knees like someone I know?"

Marceline opened her eyes widely "It's true!" she gasped, "teach me to be a doctor!" she begged.

"Sure pay attention now…" her mother said while grabbing a needle and some thread "first of all, this metal stick is called a needle and if you are not careful you can hurt yourself…"

"Like a stinging bee?" the girl asked.

"Yep!"

"Oh…amazing…" Marceline said watching her mother sewing technique.

/

The next day little Marcy spent the whole morning with her new friend Hambo. Rolling down the hill and hunting birds and frogs became ten times better now that she had someone to share her adventures and games.

She laid her back on a tree and held Hambo close to her heart "You and I will always be friends! I promise I'll never leave you, do you promise the same?" she stared at her teddy bear "I knew you will!" she replied hugging him.


	2. The cloud

Chapter 2: The cloud

"Now Hambo, don't scream! I'm going to pull this shard out of your belly!" The small girl said holding her bear tightly.

Marceline was playing outside in the company of her new friend. Three hours earlier she escaped from her house using a tunnel hole that she had been digging behind the kitchen, since her mother prohibited her determinately to leave.

The woman would spend the entire day sitting on the couch while listening to the radio. Her daughter thought it was the most boring thing to do, especially because she wasn't listening music at all, just men talking with concerned voices while reading lists of dead people's names and something about the most highly risky areas to be at the moment. The girl perceived that something strange was happening or was about to happen even though if her mother denied it telling her that everything was going to be "okay."

Marceline was stuck inside the house for two weeks obeying her mother until her wild nature overcame her good will, she needed to get out, she needed to run and feel the wind. The four walls that surrounded her were making her choke and so she began to dig.

What else could she do? She was born rebellious and eager, all she wanted was to be free but a child's mind is simple and incapable of understanding grown up matters. If her mother ordered her to stay in home, she had to have a good reason it couldn't be just some sort of caprice, as kids always tend to think.

An atmosphere of fear filled that windy afternoon, the animals were uneasy and started to look for shelter. No one paid attention to the signals. She ran through the kitchen door making her way to the backyard and pushed a rusted car engine to reveal her hole. Her escape route passed under the fence and into the forest, it was a short distance but it was enough to let her sneak out without letting her mother notice.

Holding Hambo in her arm, the girl jumped into the hole and crawled towards freedom. Once in the forest, Marceline cleaned her knees and ran happily, ignoring that she had just sealed her destiny…

/

They (she and Hambo) discovered a garbage dump, which inside Marcy's world of make believe was a treasure filed, that they had been searching for ten long years. Immersed in her fantasyland the girl began to climb over towers of junk spreading useless objects on the ground.

Marceline picked an old watch and stared at it while stepping inadvertently over a bottle, she slipped and loosed her grip on Hambo. She managed to recover her balance by grabbing a broken chair's leg, then she followed her friend's way down as he fell onto the ground.

"Soldier!" she gasped once the doll hit the dirt. She jumped swiftly from object to object making her way down. "Are you all right?" the girl asked lifting him.

Hambo just stared at her with his stitched smile.

"Don't worry! I've got my medicine certificate now soldier, I'm a professional doctor!" Marceline said checking the bear's body "Uh, oh…the patient has a crystal shard inside his stomach!" she turned her head to the right talking to the air "Nurse we'll need the needle!"

Marceline smiled looking at Hambo "This always happens to treasure hunters, it's all part of the job so you don't have to feel ashamed, okay soldier?"

"…"

"That's the spirit!" she replied sewing the rag doll's belly. When she finished, Marceline placed her hand in front of her mouth as if she was holding a walkie-talkie and began to speak "General Greyfox to base! I repeat, Greyfox to base, do you copy me?"

"Go ahead!" The girl replied to herself in a deeper voice.

"We've done it, we found the treasure field! But soldier Socks is injured, we need you to send us reinforcements!"

"Got it," she answered using the deep voice "We'll sent an helicopter for you!"

"Clear!" Marceline said lowering her hand and staring at her friend "They are coming for us…"

/

Four military helicopters flew across the grey skies over the Abadeer's house; the young woman inside followed them with her gaze as she listened to the news on the radio.

"_It has begun! Europe has been hit by the first atomic bomb! However the attacking country is unknown…. We have received reports about their next target!"_ there was a moment of silence _"Oh God!"_ the reporter cried on the microphone _"It's America! I repeat, America is the next target!"_ he shouted, _"They are coming for us…"_

A drop of sweat rolled down her forehead as she tightened her grip on the small cross that hanged from her neck "God…Is this how our world will end? Exterminated by our own kind?"

/

Little Marceline stood over an abandoned car staring at the horizon; the helicopters had just passed by, calling her childish attention "The base must have gotten the wrong coordinates…" she whispered as they disappeared between the city's buildings "I guess I'll have to carry you on my back, soldier…"

She grabbed the teddy bear and walked down slowly, thinking that if she didn't hurry her mom could discover her absence… and that would mean trouble. "Oh, Hambo we'll continue our journey later! If my mo-…!" A loud and strenuous sound forced her to turn her eyes towards the city again. The ground trembled and a column of fire rose before them.

Marceline's knees began to shiver hoping that this wasn't what she thought it was. The sirens of warning echoed in the distance, the sound that she hated so much announced one of her greatest fears; being in the middle of an attack.

Bombs fell from the firmament bringing screams of terror and desperation with them. Her fangs sank in her lip, paralyzed by fear the half demon girl watched the city burn; she clenched her eyes while covering her pointy ears. A fiery truck crashed a few meters away from her.

A pair of perplexed black irises reflected the fire coming emerging from the destroyed vehicle, its impact against the ground helped her snap out of her trance "We have to go, now!" Marcy yelled holding Hambo's arm tightly.

The roaring sound of another explosion drowned her voice within it as she ran back home.

Marceline knew she could have died ten seconds ago, why didn't have she stayed home as her mother ordered? … That thought will haunt her forever…

The truck's flames reached the gasoline puddle under it causing another potent detonation. The fire reached her.

/

The radio broke into pieces when it hit the floor. Marceline's mother had just kicked the table fiercely before collapsing on her knees; her long black hair covered her face as the tears fell from it "I…I told her to stay…"

Behind the window, the red sky glowed lighted by the hell in which the landscape she used to contemplate everyday was quickly turning into.

The sound of shotguns and screaming ripped the silence followed by her painful sobs "Marceline…" she cried, "where are you?"

/

She felt the dirt between her small fingers, it was cold, she could feel it and if she could feel something, then… She must be alive. Her eyelids opened weakly and she saw her chest raising and lowering "Breathing…I'm breathing…" the girl whispered.

Marceline tried to lift her body but her burns soared, she shook her head resisting the pain. She had to get back home. That was the only goal on her mind.

"S-socks, soldier Socks… are you alive?" Marcy asked staring at Hambo; she had embraced him the whole time. The smile was still on his ragged face.

She chuckled "You…deserve a medal soldier, for your bravery…"

Marceline managed to get back on her feet; she knew she could make it back to her house. She had to!

/

"Mom!"

She was lying on the floor soaking herself in tears "Mommy!" her daughter's voice made her flinch.

"Marceline?" she whispered not believing what she heard. The girl yelled again, she was close "Marceline!"

Her mother ran through the front door and saw the small silhouette getting closer. Letting escape a gasp of disbelieve and relief at the same time the woman rushed towards her and received Marcy in her arms.

Mother and daughter cried holding each other; pressing her little girl against her heart, she couldn't care less about the war raging around them.

"Mom-…" Marceline tried to talk but her mother slapped her hands cutting her words.

"If I tell you to stay, you stay!" she shouted. Marcy stared at her with big saddened eyes. The mother's expression softened before hugging her child again "That rebellious spirit of yours is going to cause you trouble some day…"

Marceline didn't reply. She just wanted to be with her mom. Hambo hanged from her pale hand "What's going to happen with us?" the girl asked, her face was still buried in her mother's chest.

She grabbed Marcy's chin and looked into her eyes with a sternly expression "Your father is coming for you, he'll keep you save…"

"Wh-what about you?" her daughter asked worriedly.

"He'll keep us both save…" she replied, "I just hope that he appears soon" Marceline felt her gulp nervously "We haven't seen the worst yet…"

A siren cried loudly sending shivers down the girl's spine. This one was different; she had never heard it before. Her mother's embrace became stronger and her heart beats, faster. Marceline felt fear.

"Cover your ears and close your eyes," her mother ordered carrying her inside the house. She chuckled softly "Although I would like to lie, I can't…Marceline there will an explosion, its going to be the worst one you'll ever hear and…" her voice cracked "I-I know… you are scared, but we'll get out of this one... together, I promise."

"Dad, Hambo, you and me?" the child asked staring at her. There were no emotions on her expression.

"Yeah…the four of us…" her mom replied before sitting in a corner behind the couch.

A plane flew over their small house carrying the feared weapons of massive destruction within it, two hours later one was released 40 Km away from them. For the small Marceline it was completely unexpected; Time froze around her and an ominous silence surrounded both. Her mother shouted ordering her to close her eyes and an intense flash lightened the night blinding everyone who dared to glimpse the detonation.

Daylight lasted for about seventeen seconds, for her it was an eternity of silence and uncertainty, and then the night returned. A ball of fire appeared in the horizon rising and expanding itself in the heavens almost instantly. Even if they were far from the place where the bomb hit the ground, mother and daughter screamed feeling their skins burning. The fire consumed everything in its way, the heat molted rocks and metal, and whatever miserable souls stood near the explosion were erased from the earth's surface leaving nothing, but their painted shadows on the walls.

Everything happened in seconds, but little Marcy experienced her first atomic explosion in slow motion. The brutal shock wave arrived. The sound of the expanding air blasted away virtually everything around it; Cities, mountains, vehicles of any kind, trees and even the ground itself were devastated in moments forming a gigantic crater in the surrounding area.

The window's crystals broke warning the mother to grab her child and cover her with her body. Every single object inside the house, including them was blown several meters away from it. Their bodies broke through the walls and landed violently against the ground. A monstrous wind impacted them with its uncontrollable force while Marcy's mother struggled to keep her save from any flying object that could hurt them.

Marceline opened her eyes widely gasping with terror in presence of her first, but not last mushroom cloud growing in the lightened horizon. After the shock wave, the skies were darkened and consumed by silence. The little girl thought that they were save, at last from any danger, but her mother quickly made that thought fade grabbing her by the hand and pulling her away.

"C'mon, run!" she yelled trying to keep her balance as she ran "The cloud is coming!"

The cloud…a gigantic formation of dust, toxic gases and whatever else demolished during the explosion crawled smoothly but menacingly fast as it covered whoever was lucky enough to survive the explosion. Now she got what that kid had told her some weeks ago, he knew this would happen, but how?

Marceline was running, it was hard, but she had to try for their sake. That fog or cloud as they called it could reach them in any second and crush their lungs by making them choke when its unbreathable air. Suddenly she felt something strange in her hand, she was missing something…

"Hambo!" the little girl yelled stopping her pace.

"Marceline, what are you doing?" her mother replied startled while trying to pull her forward.

"Hambo, mom, Hambo is missing!" she turned her head towards their destroyed house "I must have left him there!" Marcy cried pointing it.

"No, we are not going back!" her mother said forcing her to run.

"But!" Marceline gasped; "I promised that I would never leave him!" the girl managed to free herself from her mother's grip and ran back. "Mommy you go ahead! I'm fast, I promise to catch up with you!"

"No! Marcy!" she screamed watching her disappear into the cloud "Stay…"

/

Marceline ran through the debris searching for her beloved rag friend. It was both hard to breath or see, but she had always been a very persistent girl. She knew she would find him.

"Hambo!" the girl called covering her mouth with her shirt "Where are you?"

She began to cough and her eyes were red due to the stinging gases surrounding the air, it was too much for a little girl. "Why is this happening?" she cried rubbing her eyes "H-Hambo…" Marceline whispered, she was about to faint when a strong hand held her arm tight.

"Gotcha!" a deep voice said cheerfully. Marcy knew that voice. She loved listening to it.

"D-daddy!" she yelled hugging the tall bluish man from whom she had inherited her pointy ears and teeth "Dad I can't find Hambo!" she cried.

"You don't have to find him…" her father smiled "He helped me to find you!" he took out the strange teddy bear from his black business suit and waved it in front of her "You see?" Marceline began to cry holding Hambo against her "Oh, no…Marcy don't cry…" the Lord of Evil said patting her head gently "I'll take you out of here! Where's your mother? Is she somewhere around?"

His daughter shook her head "I told her to leave…"

"She leaved? Are you sure she's not with you?" he replied picking her up in his arms. She just nodded and pressed her face on his chest.

Another warning alarm echoed near them.

"This world is even more chaotic than mine…damn…" Hunson whispered stroking his daughter's black hair. "Once we find your mom I'm taking you two into the Nightosphere with me!"

The Lord of Evil jumped into the air flying away from the deadly cloud searching for the human woman who somehow managed to steal his evil heart, but he couldn't find her. He cursed under his breath feeling the angst grow inside him; his little girl fell asleep on his back. The hours passed by as well as the amount of explosions beneath him.

Thankfully the cloud was already gone now, and his demonic eyes could get a better look of his surroundings. Hunson decided to land over what used to be their home and walked through the debris slowly. He just wanted to make sure that she wasn't there.

If the Lord of Evil believed in hope and had some stored in his heart, it would have crumbled in less than a second. He had found her. The demon lord placed gently his sleeping child on the ground and then ran towards her.

She was lying over the wrecked floor, her body was cold and pale just like the first time he met her.

Hunson held her just like the first time, removing her black hair from her tired face and cleaning the tears under her eyes. He sighed deeply realizing that this time she wouldn't open them and laugh at him for his clumsy manners. She was probably looking for Marceline inside the cloud; of course a worried mother would always follow her daughter into the depths of hell if she needs to. His chest ached with grieve, he knew that he'll lose her eventually, she was a simple human after all but he wanted to be with her during her mortal life at least. If only he could have found her sooner…

/

When Marceline opened her eyes she was laying inside a cave, Hambo was next to her but there was no sign of her father. The little girl stood up yawning and stretching her arms like if nothing had happened. She shivered a bit feeling the cold water under her bare foot, she was starting to miss that sock but she had to use it to fix Hambo's right hand.

"Hambo, you won't believe the crazy dream I just had!" she said picking up the purple rag doll "I dreamed of that night, again…I can't believe it's been two years now!"

For two years she had been alone, how did she manage to survive? It was a mystery. Her father left her in the Earth after she rejected coming with him into the Nightosphere. Marceline just wanted to stay as close as possible to her mother.

"Let's go find us breakfast!" the girl shouted as she ran outside her cave holding Hambo by his arm.

She climbed over a tree and jumped from branch to branch making her way into the destroyed city, but she ran so fast that she didn't realize that Hambo's eye got attached to one of tree's branches ripping it off. When she was somewhere near the suburbs, Marceline jumped down swiftly and ran towards a wrecked house's front yard where she sat to check on her friend.

"You need another eyeball surgery pal, lucky for you we found a donor!" she said placing him on the ground next to her and then proceeded to rip off her own overall's purple button making her clothes look even more tattered than before.

"Eyeball!" Marceline said holding the button over her head "Nurse, hand me the string…"

"Yes doctor!" she replied to herself changing into a higher voice while she grabbed what was left of the thread that her mother gave her a couple of years ago.

"It's our last piece…" she whispered and then began sewing the button on his face "hold still…" the girl ordered pulling the string. When she finished her job, Marceline looked at her friend with a smile "I'm hurting you because I love you."

The little girl turned her head to observe the rusty and disabled war tank behind her for a moment _"I'll stay this time, mom" _she thought and then stared again at her loyal friend feeling proud for her work as his doctor. Now Hambo was patched up and ready to continue his adventures with Marceline as the war slowly diminished around them. He also has a smaller eye now!


End file.
